Miss America
by The Dark Knight's Revenge
Summary: Steve Rodgers falls in love with an ordinary mechanic on Fury's ship, but when the safety of the Avengers and the world is at risk once more, will he pay the price of his love to do what's right? Will Captain America remain alone after all?


Steve Rogers stood on the flight deck of SHIELD's flying battleship, looking out at the waves of the Atlantic Ocean with a pensive look in his blue eyes. Since the battle for New York, he had been the only Avenger to stay with Fury; the others having scattered to their regular jobs.

A siren went off, echoing around the ship. Steve rolled his eyes and began to walk across the deck to the doors leading to the bridge. Fury had been conducting test flights more and more to test new engine ideas that Tony thought up.

At the thought of Tony, Captain America ground his teeth together. It seemed like all the other Avengers had a use except for him. Banner and Stark were making the world a better place, Clint and Natasha were enjoying their honeymoon in a warzone, and Thor was shacked up with some nuclear physicist in Arizona.

That left him, the out of date captain, alone.

Steve was so absorbed in his thoughts, that he walked right into something, barely able to catch it before it hit the ground. The object let out a female squeak, and Steve looked down to see a blonde woman in his arms.

"Sorry, Ma'am. I'm afraid I was not looking where I was going." Steve said quickly, righting the woman on her feet. Upon closer inspection he saw that she was a plane mechanic, outfitted in the customary blue overalls.

"Good catch, sir." She replied, blushing a little.

"Steve Rodgers." He said, holding out a hand.

"Jennifer Hope." She replied, shaking it. Jennifer was short and petite, with long blonde hair that was currently falling out of its ponytail and large blue eyes.

"Where are you headed, Ma'am? I would be happy to escort you." Rodgers continued, surprising himself.

"Actually I was-" Jennifer was cut off by the ship giving a violent lurch and throwing them both to the ground.

"That's not good." Steve said, helping his companion up. A column of smoke was rising from the front left engine. Another shudder hit the ship, and everyone on the deck looked at the rear engines.

"DOWN!" Steve yelled, throwing Jennifer and himself behind a plane just as the left rear engine exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. The deck tilted sharply as the ship lost what little altitude it had gained from takeoff.

The plane they had sheltered behind began to slide closer as the deck tilted. Steve reached out his hands, bracing his feet on the cement.

"Move!" He yelled to Jennifer, who scrambled into the nearest doorway. Steve let the plane go, and it slid down the rest of the deck. He ran to the doorway and braced himself.

The ship hit the water with a bone rattling impact, the deck righting itself. Steve saw Jennifer smack her head on the doorframe, and he pressed a hand to her waist to keep her from falling over.

Alarms went off all over the ship and water sloshed everywhere.

"You all right, ma'am?" Steve yelled over the warning sirens. Jennifer touched her hand to her head, which was bleeding slightly.

"Just a small cut." She replied, flashing a weak smile in his direction.

"I better get up to mission control. See what the hell Fury and Stark did." Steve growled, rolling his eyes. "Will you be all right on your own?"

Jennifer nodded, and the Captain nodded back before turning and beginning to walk away.

"Wait..." Jennifer called. Steve looked back.

"Thank you, Captain." She said, smiling warmly. Steve gave his customary salute before continuing down the corridor.

As he climbed the steps to mission control, Captain Rodgers allowed himself to smile. Jennifer Hope had been the first person who had acted normally around him.

It was a good feeling, somewhat foreign to him. Most people around the ship kept their distance, gawking at him from afar, which made him feel awkward and at times lonely.

But now, it seemed that he had a friend. A friend he would try very hard to see again.

* * *

The next day, Steve went out to the flight deck on his usual walk about the ship, this time keeping his eye out for a certain blonde in blue overalls.

When he didn't see her, he went to the railing once again, looking out at the ocean and ignoring the sounds of repairs that peppered the air.

It would have been a lie to say that he hadn't been curious about the young lady he had met the day before and had been thinking about how to approach her almost constantly. He wanted to make a good impression, but he had also been frozen in the ice for a few decades, so he assumed courtship was quite different nowadays...

"Hey there." A familiar voice said to his left, interrupting Steve's thoughts. He turned his head to see Jennifer, sans overalls, leaning against the rail next to him, her hair loose and flowing in the wind.

"Er, well. I suppose I should call you sir... Or do you prefer captain? Sorry..." She said, blushing furiously.

"Neither. Steve is just fine, ma'am." He replied, allowing a small smirk to creep on his face as he took in her features. She continued to flush under his gaze. He noticed the cut on her head had been stitched up.

"How's the head?" He asked.

"All better." She replied. They began to stroll around the deck, letting the breeze caress them.

"You know, I don't understand this organization sometimes..." Steve said.

"How so?" Jennifer asked.

"Well, they gave me this very large kitchen in my barracks, and I being only one person have nothing to cook in it. Does that make sense to you, Miss Jennifer?"

"I suppose not?" She replied, giving him a curious look.

"Well, I think we should remedy this." Steve said. He leaned back against the rail, waiting for her to take the bait. She did.

"How so?"

"I think you should come to my barracks tonight and I will make you some of my mama's chicken pot pie." He proposed. Jennifer's eyes widened, and then her face broke into a grin as she threw her arms around him.

It took a second for the female mechanic to really realize what she was doing. She propelled herself backwards, tripping over a pile of spare plane parts and falling hard on the tarmac.

"Now, now. Don't get too excited, wouldn't want you getting clumsy on me... I still need a date for tonight." Rodgers teased, holding out a hand to help her up.

"Sorry Captain, i'll be there at 0900." Jennifer squeaked, her cheeks tomato red. She bobbed in an odd sort of embarrassed curtsy and scurried away, barely able to contain her joy.

Steve watched the blonde mechanic go.

For some reason, something about this girl made him extremely bold, and he had a good feeling about that night. Maybe it was good that he was reaching out once again. After all, it was about time he started a new life.


End file.
